NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1982: On December 10, 1982, a car sat in a ditch engulfed in a furious blaze. Janet Dow and her son, Stephen Dow, were inside that vehicle that appeared to have skidded off the road just 500 feet from their own home. They were deceased, but the cause of their deaths – whether from the seemingly gentle car crash, the wild flames, or something else – was not clear. What was clear to the first witnesses on the scene was that there must be more to what they were seeing. 

Over the next forty years and across multiple investigations, the truth of the suspicious deaths of Janet and Stephen Dow was hotly debated. Was it truly an accident or was the fire hiding evidence of a double homicide?

If you have information regarding this case, contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at (603) 271-2663, coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov, or leave a tip.

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